Tyson, who had a role in 2009's "The Hangover" and has also performed on Broadway, will play Reggie Rhodes - "a murderer on death row who is also the victim of a difficult childhood," according to the paper.

The athlete-turned-actor will shoot his episode of the Mariska Hargitay-led crime procedural later this month, Tyson's rep told Entertainment Weekly, and it will air on February 13.